Screen comparison

We already mentioned that the two screens have different aspect ratios, but we didn't cover what difference that makes. The 16:9 aspect ratio of the Samsung Galaxy S III is more media oriented, while watching videos on the Optimus G will entail either letterboxing or cropping.

LG chose to focus on text instead - the 15:9 screen is taller in landscape orientation, which is more accommodating to reading web pages, emails, documents and so on.

LG and Samsung use very different screens

But there's an even more fundamental difference between the two screens - one is an LCD, while the other is an AMOLED.

The LG Optimus G has a True HD-IPS+ LCD screen with 768 x 1280 resolution. On a 4.7" diagonal, that means 318ppi pixel density, but the bigger advantage here is the full RGB matrix.

We used a digital microscope to shoot the matrices of both screens up close. On the Optimus G, each RGB triplet is a pixel, while on the Galaxy S III pixels are composed of either an RG or a BG pair.

Note: not to scale

The macro shot of tiny white text is very telling when it comes to sharpness - the Galaxy S III has to use sub-pixel rendering, so the 1px-wide lines on the font come out 1.5px thick (it needs two pixels to get all three primary colors).

For normal-size text, the effect isn't very visible, though if you look up close you'll see a telling cross-hatch pattern. Text on the Optimus G remains sharp even on very low zoom levels.

Note: not to scale

The Super AMOLED screen may lose in sharpness, but it has some inherent advantages. The black levels are virtually 0, the contrast is superior and the colors are more saturated (though this might not appeal to everyone).

The LCD has a few tricks up its sleeves as well. For one, it's brighter (it scored 141 nits more than the Super AMOLED) and for another it's got a slightly more realistic colors.

Sure, there is light leaking through black colors and it's noticeable even in a well-lit room, but with the extra brightness, the contrast ratio still works out to an impressive 1438:1.

Display test

50% brightness

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Apple iPhone 5

0.13

200

1490

0.48

640

1320

Apple iPhone 4S

0.14

205

1463

0.52

654

1261

LG Optimus 4X HD

0.34

369

1077

0.68

750

1102

LG Optimus G

0.14

197

1445

0.33

471

1438

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III

0

174

∞

0

330

∞

Samsung Galaxy Note II

0

253

∞

0

478

∞

HTC One X

0.15

200

1375

0.39

550

1410

An issue of the IPS+ technology are the viewing angles - the LG smartphone exhibits both contrast degradation and color shift when you view it at an angle. The color shift is most visible when it's rotated (i.e. having one of the four edges pointing at you), which isn't the case most of the time, so it's not a major issue.

The Super AMOLED screen shows a faint greenish tint at an angle, typical behavior for AMOLED screens, but it's no as bad to look at.

What is a major issue, however, is screen reflectivity. LG has been touting their ZeroGap technology that is supposed to minimize reflections, but it doesn't work quite as advertised. The Optimus G screen is way too reflective, giving it below average sunlight legibility.

The Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S III, on the other hand, is one of the best we have tested in this regard.

Contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView4.698

Apple iPhone 53.997

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III3.419

Samsung Omnia W3.301

Samsung Galaxy S3.155

Nokia N93.069

Samsung Galaxy Note2.970

HTC One S2.901

Samsung Galaxy S II2.832

Huawei Ascend P12.655

Nokia Lumia 9002.562

Apple iPhone 4S2.269

HTC One X2.158

Nokia N82.144

Apple iPhone 42.016

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray1.955

Sony Xperia T1.894

Sony Xperia U1.758

LG Optimus G1.753

LG Optimus 4X HD1.691

HTC One V1.685

LG Optimus Vu1.680

LG Optimus 3D1.542

Nokia Asha 3021.537

Nokia Lumia 6101.432

Gigabyte GSmart G13551.361

HTC Desire C1.300

LG Optimus L71.269

Meizu MX1.221

Samsung Galaxy Pocket1.180

Sony Xperia tipo1.166

Samsung Galaxy mini 21.114

To summarize our findings, the Samsung Galaxy S III screen loses on sharpness and maximum brightness (some people find it too dim), but it has great saturation, contrast, angles and sunlight legibility.

The LG Optimus G screen is still among the best though - it offers great sharpness, higher brightness and very good colors (though not perfect). Disappointing sunlight legibility is quite an issue however.

Battery life

We separate battery life into three important categories - talking on a 3G network, browsing the web over Wi-Fi and watching videos. Then we take those numbers, plus a standby reading and give each phone an endurance rating - how long last without needing a charge, if you do an hour of each activity per day.

It's important to note that both phones have 2100mAh batteries, but the LG Optimus G uses a next-gen chipset, while the Samsung Galaxy S III has the best of the outgoing generation of Exynos 4 chipsets.

Calling is generally a test of how efficient the modem of each phone is - the screen is off and the CPU has nothing to do. The LG Optimus G scores a major victory here, beating the Galaxy S III by 50%. While it's not the best score we have seen, the S4 Pro is certainly off to a good start.

Talk time

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)21:18

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX20:24

Motorola RAZR i20:07

Samsung Galaxy Note II N710016:57

LG Optimus G15:30

Huawei Ascend P112:30

Samsung Galaxy Note12:14

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam11:58

Samsung Wave 3 S860011:07

HTC One X (AT&T, LTE)10:35

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III10:20

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)10:15

HTC One V10:00

Meizu MX 4-core10:00

HTC One X9:57

HTC One S9:42

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R9:40

HTC Sensation XL9:30

Nokia Lumia 7109:05

Motorola Atrix HD9:04

HTC Vivid9:02

HTC Rhyme8:48

Apple iPhone 58:42

LG Optimus 3D Max P7208:42

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V8:41

Meizu MX8:39

Samsung Galaxy S II8:35

Nokia Lumia 8008:25

Samsung Galaxy Nexus8:23

HTC Desire V8:20

Samsung Captivate Glide8:20

Sony Xperia T8:15

HTC Rezound (LTE)8:10

Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE)8:02

LG Optimus Vu7:57

LG Optimus 4X HD7:41

Apple iPhone 4S7:41

Samsung i937 Focus S7:25

HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE)7:21

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G7:14

Sony Xperia acro S7:09

Samsung Rugby Smart I8477:09

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro6:57

Nokia N96:57

HTC Radar6:53

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos6:53

BlackBerry Curve 93806:52

Samsung Galaxy Pocket5:54

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE)5:53

Sony Xperia ion LTE5:52

Sony Xperia P5:33

Nokia 808 PureView5:16

LG Nitro HD (LTE)5:16

HTC Titan II (LTE)5:10

BlackBerry Bold 97905:00

Pantech Burst4:46

Surprisingly the Samsung Galaxy S III did a job at the web browsing part of the test, outlasting the Optimus G by about an hour and fifteen minutes. It did get a big boost from the Jelly Bean update (curiously, the boost is about an hour and fifteen minutes), so we suspect the LG phone might catch up when it gets the Android 4.1 update.

Web browsing

Apple iPhone 59:56

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)9:12

Samsung Galaxy Note II N71008:48

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX7:23

HTC Radar7:17

Motorola RAZR i7:06

Apple iPhone 4S6:56

HTC One V6:49

Motorola Atrix HD6:40

BlackBerry Curve 93806:40

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)6:27

Samsung i937 Focus S6:15

Sony Xperia ion LTE5:56

Samsung Rugby Smart I8475:53

Pantech Burst5:51

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G5:45

HTC Desire V5:44

HTC Evo 4G LTE5:41

Samsung Wave 3 S86005:34

Sony Xperia T5:33

Samsung Captivate Glide5:33

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam5:28

Samsung Galaxy Note LTE5:24

HTC Sensation XL5:20

Meizu MX 4-core5:19

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III5:17

Sony Xperia acro S5:16

HTC Rezound5:16

LG Optimus G5:15

HTC Rhyme5:08

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R5:07

HTC One X (AT&T)5:03

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro4:50

LG Optimus Vu4:49

HTC Vivid4:46

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos4:45

Meizu MX4:35

Nokia N94:33

Samsung Galaxy S II4:24

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V4:20

HTC One X4:18

Nokia 808 PureView4:14

LG Optimus 3D Max P7204:10

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T4:10

Nokia Lumia 8004:07

HTC Titan II (LTE)4:05

HTC One S4:03

BlackBerry Bold 97904:02

LG Nitro HD4:00

LG Optimus 4X HD3:59

Sony Xperia P3:59

Nokia Lumia 7103:51

Samsung Galaxy Pocket3:47

Samsung Galaxy Note3:35

Huawei Ascend P13:23

Samsung Galaxy Nexus3:01

The Samsung Galaxy S III rounds up the score in its favor with a two hour advantage in the video watching test. The Optimus G is three hours ahead of its Optimus 4X predecessor, so it's a good score too, just not good enough for the win here.

Video playback

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)16:35

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX14:17

Samsung Galaxy Note II N710011:27

Apple iPhone 510:12

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III10:01

Nokia 808 PureView9:53

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam9:42

Samsung Rugby Smart I8479:34

HTC One S9:28

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)9:27

Apple iPhone 4S9:24

HTC Evo 4G LTE9:07

Nokia N98:40

Samsung Galaxy Note8:25

Motorola RAZR i8:11

Samsung Galaxy S II8:00

Samsung i937 Focus S7:55

Samsung Wave 3 S86007:52

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V7:45

Huawei Ascend P17:38

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G7:33

Samsung Galaxy Note LTE7:30

LG Optimus G7:16

Meizu MX 4-core6:33

HTC Desire V6:26

HTC One X (AT&T)6:26

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos6:25

LG Optimus Vu6:23

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R6:21

HTC Sensation XL6:12

Samsung Galaxy Pocket6:06

Samsung Captivate Glide6:04

Sony Xperia ion LTE6:03

Samsung Galaxy Nexus6:02

Sony Xperia T6:01

Motorola Atrix HD6:01

HTC Vivid6:00

HTC Radar5:54

Nokia Lumia 8005:52

HTC Titan II5:50

BlackBerry Bold 97905:47

HTC One X5:45

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro5:44

Sony Xperia acro S5:38

Pantech Burst5:38

Meizu MX5:27

HTC Rhyme5:23

HTC One V5:20

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T5:18

BlackBerry Curve 93805:09

HTC Rezound5:03

Sony Xperia P4:30

LG Nitro HD4:17

LG Optimus 4X HD4:14

LG Optimus 3D Max P7203:28

Nokia Lumia 7103:27

In the end, the LG Optimus G scores an endurance rating of 45 hours, while the Samsung Galaxy S III earned a score of 50 hours. You can read about more our testing methodology here.

Talkative people will get better battery life out of the Optimus G, but for tasks that require the screen to be on and the CPUs working, the Galaxy S III will generally last longer. We have to say that the Galaxy S III was performing virtually identical to the Optimus G before the Jelly Bean update, so we suspect the two will be on par when the LG flagship get treated to the latest Android version.